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In the Caribbean Islands this past Dec almost all the ports had tours no basing required….water based tours that you met the tour boat at the end of the dock or walked to the end of the dock and boarded an open air touring train or joined some kind of a walking tour in the town. One of the best tours we have ever done was in Roatan…Meet the Dolphins…. It was a get in water thing but you had to bus across the island which was nearly a hour ride in rush hour traffic on 2 lane island roads through the major city. The other good one was in Australia….111/2 bus tour on the Great Ocean Road…would not have missed it. When Regent docks at an industrial port for a major city, it is hard to get to points of interest with an hour or more bus ride each way. Agree with Rels either in the disclaimer section on the online reservation form or the onboard info sheet. I have usually found a good description on walking distance, number of steps and bus travel time. Just have to read all the information and if you have a question check with the Destination people.

That is interesting. This past Dec/Jan on the Solendor and the Navigator (in a lowly G and F cabin) our two liquor bottles were replaced when they reach about a quarter full with out a word to the steward. We had excellent service on both ships though there seem to be a lot of new to Regent staff on the Splendor.

Nothing like getting back from a day of touring, ringing room service for drinks and snacks to enjoy on your balcony during a sunset sail away! Life in a Regent ship is hard🤣

Agree with QC as a stopping point. We have done this cruise route twice. Both times we have gotten off the ship early in QC spent a couple of nights there. Rented a car and driven to M for a night. Then boarded the train to Albany where we rented another car and drove home. Couldn’t rent a car in Canada to drive to the states one way. It was leaf time both times and made for a great trip through the fall color.

If you booked it as two cruises with separate booking #s for each then two reservations in each venue. Offerwise one booking#, one reservation each.

Many are included with no fee. In -250 days on Regent we have been able to enjoy most all ports with a free( included ) tour and sometimes two or three cree tours if it was an overnight port. There are some small ports that don’t have tours to offer. All tours are offered on a first come first serve so if you do not book early all tours offerings might not still be open. Regent also offers a few tours in ports that have an extra charge. We have only done one or two of these. The free tours Regent offers are ones that you would pay up to about $150 on the retail market… on other lines…the for fee tours you are paying the extra retail cost of the tour. The other replies give you other details.

Our favorites were the mushroom soup and the lamb….we would get three orders of that so we would have a couple of extra prices. Regent always has the best lamb.

Funny about food. . We loved Chartreuse on the Splendor this past Dec. Ate there 5 or 6 times on a 13 day cruise. The apple tart is really good fresh and not over cooked. First time I hand it in the Navigator it was done perfectly… crust tender and warn. Second time it was over done and the crust was cardboard. I make it at home and it needs to be watched baking and doesn’t have a very long shelf life after it cools. Not a good item for a large venue where it will sit around.

Regent tours for turn around days are not available to book until on board. There will be one or two depending on the port. We have usually sone our own thing

This happens and did happen precovid if you booked close to the sailing. We had luck in Dec with getting our wait listed tours. Do wait list those that you want that have an online wait list choice and also call Regent if there is one you want… they might be able to add you to a wait list. Be sure to book a second choice for that day, you can always cancel it the day of if you get what you really want. Also check the desk as soon as you board. Keep checking because things do change daily as people get tired of touring and cancel. If all else fails go to the lounge and check the day of the tour for no shows…. That happens a too. Check on line “What’s in a Port” for tours offered in that port. Many ports especially in Europe offer good walking tours by locals that are low cost or free. When I could still walk any distance we found these very good.

Good enjoy your cruise! Alaska is a good one. Go to the Red Dog Saloon in Juneau and do a whale watching tour..

Some people treat Regent requests like they are meant for someone else just like the request to not reserve Sun loungers. Imagine that is why we saw staff turning people away from the suite hallways in Dec 😬

Love the fact that there is always snacks to go with my drink anytime of day. The areas are right together. They are cozy but I do like the set up on Navigator. Live music(evenings), cocktails, tea coffee hot chocolate and food all in one place almost 24/7.are at least when most people are awake.

If you are doing the hotel package you will have ship transfers. Yes you will get all that info with the luggage tags etc a few weeks before sailing. We have sailed from Seward few times. We drove ourselves once and did a ship transfer twice (different ships) once by train and once by bus. It is s wonderful trip however you do it. You will probably get there before the suites are open. Store the luggage on the ship and get off and walk around the town everything is right there.

In Dec there were staff standing by elevators/stairs tuning back people who tried to access suites before they announced they were open (1 for named suites, 1:45 for all others). You were directed to the public areas to wait. This was on the Splendor and the Navigator. If you don’t want to wait around the the crowd to board at noon, check out and leave your luggage with your hotel in the morning, do some site seeing (maybe an early lunch) until about 2 then pick up luggage and go to the ship. You then can get right on, go to your suite, drop luggage. freshen up and go to lunch at the lido or veranda as they are open until 4. Or go to the Coffee Connection for hot tea and finger food, both sweet and savory items. We do this in new ports that have things if interest. There is no need to rush to the ship with everybody else and then try to get back off to do something ashore. The ports are often not near the cities’ points of interest, so doing the sites before boarding is better use of the day. We like being able to go straight to the suite when we get on, clean up a bit then go to a bar for a cocktail and wait for sail away if it is before dinner.

Yes you can bring an extension cord on the ship. I take one short one with multiple plugs for the desk area and one long one for the bed area or sofa for my heating pad. No problem as of Dec…2 ships three cruises.

In that case. it is a good use of OBC. That is what we did too, but I won’t spent extra of my own to do it again. The shorter Alaskan, Caribbean (we did three BroB recently) and Med cruises are port entensice and can be very tiring if you go ashore dependently/or on a tour everyday. The service is so good in the ships we just like to be pampered as much as possible!

Alaskan cruises are short to begin with s port a day is tiring. The 2 hour afternoon class is standing only if you want to really participate and you will be full because you will want to eat what you made. And it is expensive for what it is. We really enjoy the evening meal, almost our favorite time on a cruise so we will not do the cooking class again. Too expensive and it really messed with our relaxing evening….cocktails, nice dinner, after dinner drinks/entertainment.

Now you know why we were so happy to get back on the Navigator after 17 days in the Splendor this past Dec. We love to eat in the CR three meals a day……that is luxury for us. The Navigator’s CR ambience is so much better than the Splendor’s. We did not like having to eat in a different venue each day with a different serving staff. They never got to know us or our preferences. Or CR with its high ceilings. Agree with you about softer chairs, that is a big problem on all Regent ships also many chairs are too low the the ground. We always have two dinning room chairs placed in our room so we can get up and down with ease. The Navigator staff are the best and work together so well! Bigger and fancier is not always better!

Loved your love story and the food pictures bought back many happy memories of the 137 days we were in the Navigator in 2028. They had a poolside buffet about every two weeks or so. The food always looked so good. And the staff work really hard setting it all up! Thanks for you reports!

GP… try the area in the bar for the theater to the left by the windows. Several of us went there for reading, talking and a small group painted on their own (water colors). They were very good. I found it a good place to get away, had it to myself a lot but never many people. DH spent time in the library. Nine sea days in a row is the most we ever have had…. Coming across the South Atlantic from South Africa to South America on the Navigator. Enjoying your report. Sorry you missed just walking around Charleston. We visit there often, one of my favorite walking cities… great place for a lunch or dinner. There are many places we have found that we skip the tour for exactly the reason you describe.

I do agree with you on this.

Nothing wrong with celebrating something special with a cruise and a special dinner etc…..we celebrated DH Birthday and our 50th anniversary on a TA on the Queen Mary 2 in the Queens Grill with a fancy speciality dinner, cake (sans singing) and flowers plus a picture with the Captain before dinner in the Queens Lounge. Really nice way to do it.

For sure!

Or listen to the off key singing! Geez that something they do at at local low end Mexican restaurant at home.